In the winding of strand material onto bobbins, the material is typically wound onto the bobbins in layers containing successive convolutions of the strand material distributed uniformly between front and back flanges of the bobbin. Due to the small distance between the flanges of the bobbin, it is important to provide precise control of a traverse motor which drives the traversing mechanism.
In a prior system, a mechanical control of the traversing mechanism includes a drive motor which operates at a constant speed in only one direction. The system also includes a pair of parallel shafts driven through two bevel gears, two electrically operated friction clutches and a pair of meshing spur gears. A switch is located at each end of the path of travel of the traversing mechanism representative of reversal end-points. As a carriage which supports the traversing mechanism approaches one of the flanges of the bobbin, the carriage engages one of the switches. The reversing of the traversing mechanism is effected by alternately actuating one of the friction clutches as the appropriate switch is engaged by the carriage. A system as described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,452.
A mechanical system, such as the one described above, requires constant maintenance. Moreover, the length-of-travel of the traversing mechanism is fixed which prevents the winding of strand onto bobbins of various sizes.
Consequently, there exists a need for a system to control the movement of a traversing mechanism to provide for uniform distribution of strand being wound onto a bobbin and to facilitate a variable length-of-travel of the traversing mechanism.